How to recruit effectively

For any business, having a strong team will not only take the pressure off top management, but it will also put you ahead of competitors.

Rather than bosses trying to be in control of everything themselves – which can be hugely unproductive – delegating tasks to skilled workers will help everything to run much more smoothly.

On top of this, having highly trained staff looks great, both in terms of customers and clients who feel they are in capable hands.

However, for employers the recruitment process can sometimes be time consuming, as well as daunting for some – but this needn’t be the case.

The secret to finding – and keeping – skilled staff is to have a good recruitment procedure in place. This will help to ensure you hire qualified people who can do their jobs well, while also fitting in with the overall company culture.

Read on for some of our top tips to effective recruitment.

Have a clear and thorough job description

A clear job description is as much for your company’s benefit as prospective employees. By conveying exactly what the position entails, applicants will be able to decide whether or not they are qualified for the role and employers can also determine the same with ease – this will save a lot of time and effort.

If the candidate doesn’t fit the description or demonstrate applicable skills, then you can quickly move on to the next application.

When writing a job description, be sure to list the major tasks that the role will entail, as well as any necessary qualifications and experience. It’s also advantageous to answer the question that every applicant will likely have: “What’s in it for me?”

This means talking about the working environment and any benefits an employees will be given.

Advertise in the correct places

It may be tempting to list your job vacancy on every single job board, but this is only going to lead to a big headache and wasted time as unsuitable people apply for the role.

Instead, think very carefully about the type of person you are looking for and try to assess where that person is likely to look.

Depending on your industry and the role you’re hiring for, some of your options could include national newspapers, online job boards or industry publications – social media platforms can be another option to consider.

Of all the social media sites out there, LinkedIn is the one that is most suited to professional networking, as it has more than 200 million users and offers great tools for searching for and posting jobs. However, companies may have to consider forking out for the premium LinkedIn Talent Finder, as the free version is limited.

Meanwhile, some companies have found success in casting a wide net on Twitter and Facebook.

Pre-screen candidates

Once you receive all applications it’s time to start sorting through them all – a process which should be less demanding if your job description clearly outlined the kind of skills you were looking for.

The best thing to do is separate applicants into those who could be possibilities and those who do definitely do not have the relevant expertise. From the long list of maybes, scan the cover letters and CVs again and put together a shortlist from there.

Then, rather than inviting all of those on your shortlist for an interview, why not speak to candidates over the phone and invite the strongest applicants in for a final face-to-face interview.

The interview process

This is the final step in the recruitment process. Therefore it’s important to plan the interview session carefully so that by the end of it you have a thorough understanding of the applicant and their suitability for the role.

Remember, this is also a chance for the candidate to determine whether or not your company is the right environment for them, so give plenty of information about the business and its core values. Leave time at the end for any questions.